'Parting blast': Dame Liz Forgan will make a speech at tonight's bash making the case for 'sustained government investment in arts and culture'

The outgoing head of the Arts Council was under fire last night over plans for a £12,500 ‘leaving do’ funded by the taxpayer.

Dame Liz Forgan, an outspoken critic of government funding cuts to the arts, will fire a parting blast at ministers at the event at the British Museum tonight in front of an audience drawn from the great and the good in the arts world.

The event is going ahead despite the Department for Culture Media and Sport initially turning down a request from the Arts Council to use taxpayers’ money.

The quango got round the decision by reclassifying the event under an existing part of its budget which had already been approved for funding.

The original £12,500 budget for the event included a catering bill of £7,500 to pay for each of the 250 guests to enjoy an average two-and-a-half glasses of wine and five canapés. A further £1,000 was earmarked for ‘contingencies’.

An Arts Council spokesman last night denied the event was a ‘leaving do’ and said the final budget had been reduced to £8,130.

But a government source condemned the decision to press ahead with the ‘party’.

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The source said: ‘It’s unbelievable that the Arts Council would complain about arts funding and then, instead of bidding for extra money for front-line arts, ask the Government for £12,500 of taxpayers’ money to fund an extravagant leaving party.

‘It makes you question their priorities if they think this is a good use of money.’

Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: ‘This is yet another example of a taxpayer-funded body that is out of touch with the people who pick up their bills. It smacks of hypocrisy for the Arts Council to decry necessary spending cuts when it is more than happy to splash out on a luxurious goodbye bash.

Venue: The event is going ahead at the British Museum despite the Department for Culture, Media and Sport initially turning down a request from the Arts Council to use taxpayers' money

‘This unelected and unaccountable quango should be axed before it wastes any more taxpayers’ money quaffing champagne.’

The council last night defended the decision to press ahead with the event, which is now part of its ‘State of the Arts’ series of lectures on the value of the arts.

'This unelected and unaccountable quango should be axed before it wastes any more taxpayers' money quaffing champagne'

Matthew Sinclair, Taxpayers' Alliance

Dame Liz, a former BBC executive and chairman of the Scott Trust which owns the Guardian newspaper, will deliver a speech making the case for ‘sustained government investment in arts and culture’.

She will also stress the importance of including cultural education as a key element of the Government’s new Ebacc qualification.

The council spokesman described the occasion as a ‘thought leadership piece which will help stimulate debate and discussion among the key stakeholders present, and those who hear the podcast of the event, around key priorities for the Arts Council’.

The spokesman said costs had been ‘kept to a minimum’, adding that the event would also be an opportunity for ‘discussion and networking’.

Dame Liz was appointed as chairman of the Arts Council in 2009 but was asked to step down by the then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt when her term came up for renewal last year.

Her departure was mourned by administrators who saw her as an effective champion of public spending on the arts.

She is being succeeded by Sir Peter Bazalgette, the man who will forever be known for introducing Big Brother to British television.